FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 347 



during the salmon season. This measure is not suggested as a substi- 

 tute for the other, but as supplemental to it and of great additional 

 benefit. It is provided for in British Columbia, where all net fishing 

 is stopped by law during the thirty-six hours from 6 a. m. on Saturday 

 to 6 p. m. on Sunday of every week. The special advantages of this 

 weekly close time are several. It assures the ascent to their spawning- 

 grounds of fish of the same species at difierent periods during the 

 entire season, thus meeting the objection raised against the fall close 

 time as protective only of the later runs. There is likely to be consid- 

 erable variation in the duration of the season, which, in the case of the 

 sockeye at least, may end before the date appointed for the ftill close 

 time. The weekly periods make up for this discrepancy and also afford 

 fishermen a regular period of rest from their work, which in the case 

 of those who are in the regular employ of large establishments is not 

 unwelcome, especially if it falls mainly upon Sunday, as is customary. 



The extension of such a regulation to the waters of the State of 

 Washington, so far as this can be done advisedly, is strongly to be 

 recommended. The measure is most imj)ortant in respect to the sock- 

 eye, and its utility is most evident on the rivers, where the salmon are 

 pressing rapidly toward their spawning- grounds. In even the salt 

 waters the sockeye move so quickly along their defined course that a 

 weekly close time in their interest should be favorably regarded. The 

 inner salt waters are to them apparently almost a continuation of the 

 rivers in which their spawning-grounds occur. A period of thirty-six 

 hours may be too short to permit the fish some distance out in the sea to 

 pass the upper limit of the nets, and it may, upon further inquiry, be 

 found advisable to begin the close time somewhat earlier in the salt 

 water, but even should it for the present be made uniform throughout, 

 it is scarcely to be doubted that the relative number of fish that reach 

 the spawning-grounds would be increased. There is some question as 

 to the benefits to be gained by other species through a measure of this 

 kind, as most of them at least remain in the inner sea for a longer time 

 than the sockeye, and some for quite a period, as in the case of the 

 quinnat. They should undoubtedly be so protected in the rivers and 

 about the mouths of the rivers. 



The close-time question with reference to the steelhead requires to be 

 considered apart from the other species, in consequence of the fiict that 

 its movements and spawning take place at quite a different season. 

 The growing demand for the species and the opportunities for its capture 

 in the fresh water during a long period make it very important that its 

 welfare be not neglected from this standpoint. 



In a new region, where existing conditions have favored so bounteous 

 a supply of salmon, it is quite unnecessary to consider for the present 

 whether their ascent is anywhere impeded by natural obstructions. The 

 introduction of fish ways or the clearing away of barriers might in some 

 localities open up new spawning-grounds, and such measures may 



